To book an MPI quarantine facility you contact one of three approved operators directly — two in Auckland, one in Christchurch — hold a slot for at least ten days, and get a signed booking form back. That form is a required attachment on your import permit application, so the kennel gets booked before the permit is lodged, not after.
Introduction: the kennel slot is the thing you buy first
Most owners assume quarantine is arranged after the flight is confirmed. New Zealand works the other way. You book an MPI quarantine facility first, because the signed booking form is a document the import permit application cannot proceed without.
Families writing to My Pet Mover about New Zealand ask about the flight first, the permit second, the kennel last. That order is backwards, and it is the most expensive assumption on the route.
Only three facilities in the country may hold an imported cat or dog, and every pet arriving from Malaysia goes into one of them for at least ten days. Three kennels, a fixed minimum stay, and a permit that will not move without proof you hold a bed.
This guide covers how to book an MPI quarantine facility from Kuala Lumpur: who the operators are, when to contact them, what ten days involves, and what MPI charges on top. The sequencing is written for the Malaysia to New Zealand pet corridor and a departure out of KLIA.
The video below covers moving a dog to New Zealand, including the quarantine step most owners underestimate.
How do you book an MPI quarantine facility from Malaysia?
You contact an approved operator directly — MPI allocates no places. Pick a facility from MPI’s register, give the species, breed, arrival airport and target date, and ask for the quarantine booking form. MPI’s guidance says the form comes from the facility, not from MPI.
The process is short, but each step must finish before the next starts.
- Choose the arrival airport first. A cat or dog arriving by air may only land at Auckland or Christchurch, so the airport decides which facilities are available.
- Contact the operator directly. Phone or email a kennel from MPI’s register of quarantine facilities. MPI publishes contacts but takes no bookings.
- Give them the real details. Species, breed, age, sex, whether the animal travels with a housemate, and any medical or behavioural condition. Hiding an anxiety issue causes trouble on arrival, not at booking.
- Hold the slot for at least ten days. Ask for buffer nights beyond the minimum, because release is not guaranteed on day ten.
- Get the signed booking form back. Your import permit application carries this document. Without it, the file is incomplete.
Everything after that runs off the confirmed date. The flight lands into the slot, and the Malaysian export paperwork is timed to the flight.
Not sure which facility suits your flight?
We hold slots on this corridor regularly and know which operator suits which arrival pattern. See how our pet export service works →
The three approved facilities and where they sit
MPI’s register lists three approved quarantine operators: Pethaven Quarantine Services and Qualified Pet Services near Auckland, and Canterbury Quarantine Services near Christchurch. That is the entire national capacity for imported cats and dogs, which is why slots on peak dates go early.
The table compiles what MPI publishes about each facility, current as at the register’s review on 15 April 2025. Rates are absent because MPI does not publish them — the register tells you to ask each operator about cost, feeding and visiting.
New Zealand’s Approved Cat and Dog Quarantine Facilities
| Facility | Location | Serves arrivals at | How to book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pethaven Quarantine Services | Pokeno, south of Auckland | Auckland | Direct by phone or email |
| Qualified Pet Services | Takanini, south Auckland | Auckland | Direct by phone or email |
| Canterbury Quarantine Services | Aylesbury, west of Christchurch | Christchurch | Direct by phone or email |
Source: compiled by My Pet Mover from MPI’s register of quarantine facilities, reviewed 15 April 2025. Confirm entries with MPI before booking.
Three operators is a thin market, so “which facility is best” is usually settled by whoever has your dates.
Why the booking form has to exist before the permit does
Under the Cats and Dogs 2026 Import Health Standard, an import permit application from a category 2 or category 3 country must include a signed quarantine booking form alongside the rabies vaccination records and blood test results. Malaysia sits in category 3, so the rule applies to every pet leaving here.
Malaysia’s classification matters here, and it is worth confirming rather than assuming. MPI’s specified approvals document lists Malaysia — Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak — as a category 3 country, the group where rabies is absent or well controlled. Our guide on whether Malaysia is approved to send pets to New Zealand covers what that buys you.
Category 3 status means direct export is possible. It does not waive quarantine. Only compliant pets from Australia skip the kennel, along with compliant assistance dogs.
The file assembles in a fixed order: vaccinate, blood test, identity check, book the kennel, then apply for the permit. The quarantine slot is the first commitment with real money attached. Our guide to how long MPI import permit approval takes covers what happens next.
When to book, counted backwards from the flight
MPI’s checklist places the quarantine booking and permit application at roughly seven to eight weeks before export, with at least 30 working days for permit processing. Working backwards from the landing date is the only reliable way to build the calendar.
The countdown maps MPI’s published milestones onto a Malaysian departure. Treat it as a planning skeleton, not a promise — identity-check and blood-test dates depend on which standard applies.
The Quarantine Booking Countdown, Malaysia to New Zealand
| Time before export | What happens | Why it sits here |
|---|---|---|
| 6–12 months | Rabies blood sample drawn; identity check performed | Fixed windows in the import health standard |
| 3–4 months | Shortlist facilities, compare dates and rates | Only three operators nationally |
| 7–8 weeks | Book the slot, collect the signed form, lodge the permit | MPI’s own checklist position |
| 30 working days | Permit processing, once the file is complete | MPI’s published processing time |
| 5 working days | Advance arrival notification to MPI | Minimum notice before scheduled arrival |
| Arrival + 10 days | Minimum quarantine, then release inspection | Statutory minimum, business hours only |
Source: compiled by My Pet Mover from MPI guidance and the Cats and Dogs 2026 Import Health Standard, August 2026. MPI’s category 3 checklist still cites the 2021 standard, so treat its week figures as indicative.
Two things break this calendar. A late titre result pushes the whole chain right — our note on the three to twelve month rabies titre window explains why. The other is booking a flight before the kennel, then finding no slot on arrival day.
Want this timeline built around your actual departure month?
Send the month you need to land and the breed, and we map the vaccination, titre and booking dates against it. Check our relocation pricing →
What ten days inside the facility actually involves
An MPI veterinarian inspects your pet within 72 hours of arrival at the facility. The animal stays a minimum of ten days under the operator’s daily monitoring, then a final inspection releases it. That release inspection only happens during normal business hours.
The privately run facility handles daily care; MPI does the inspections. If the operator is concerned about health or welfare, it calls in a private clinical vet and notifies you and MPI.
Three practical points owners consistently miss:
- Declare medical conditions at booking. MPI tells importers to inform the facility about any condition before the pet travels.
- Declare anxiety or aggression too. An animal that cannot be safely examined may need sedation, delaying the inspection.
- Ask about visits and feeding when you book. Conditions differ by operator, and MPI directs these questions to the facility.
If you have moved a pet through KLAQS quarantine at KLIA, the rhythm is familiar: intake, monitored stay, exit inspection. In New Zealand the stay is longer and the exit is a scheduled veterinary event, not a formality.
What pushes a stay past ten days
MPI publishes five reasons quarantine runs past ten days: the period ending outside business hours, unmet import requirements, illness or suspected disease exposure, ectoparasites, and an animal too aggressive to examine. Each carries cost you cannot cap in advance.
The grouped table sets MPI’s listed triggers against what follows and who decides.
Why Quarantine Runs Past Ten Days: Triggers and Consequences
| Trigger | What follows | Decided by |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | ||
| Period ends outside business hours | Inspection waits for the next working day | MPI schedule |
| Paperwork | ||
| Import requirements not met | Extended stay until the gap is closed | MPI |
| Health | ||
| Unwell, or exposed to a suspected exotic disease | No release; further testing or treatment, costs rise sharply | MPI and facility vet |
| Ectoparasites found | More treatments and inspections; ticks trigger extra testing | Facility, verified by MPI |
| Behaviour | ||
| Animal cannot be adequately examined | Sedation may be needed before inspection proceeds | Attending veterinarian |
Source: compiled by My Pet Mover from MPI’s quarantine facilities guidance, page reviewed 1 July 2026.
Ticks deserve a mention here. Malaysia is a warm, humid tick environment, and a dog that clears a Malaysian vet check can still present with a problem in Auckland. Pre-departure parasite treatment is the cheapest insurance on the route.
What you pay MPI, and what you pay the kennel
There are two bills. MPI charges published fees for the permit, the border inspection and veterinary time at the facility. The kennel charges its own daily rate, which MPI does not publish — you get that from the operator when you book.
The chart shows MPI’s published charges as at the fees page reviewed 7 August 2026, in New Zealand dollars including GST.
MPI Charges Around a New Zealand Pet Quarantine (NZD, incl. GST)
| MPI charge | Relative cost | NZD |
|---|---|---|
| Border inspection, first pet | 374.05 | |
| Import permit application | 268.24 | |
| Veterinary inspection at the facility, per hour | 249.37 | |
| Permit processing beyond 1.5 hours, per hour | 178.83 | |
| Border inspection, each additional pet | 124.68 | |
| Missed inspection appointment | 62.34 |
Source: compiled by My Pet Mover from MPI’s fees and charges for bringing pets to NZ, reviewed 7 August 2026. GST-inclusive. Facility boarding rates are set by each operator and not published by MPI.
None of these is the daily kennel rate, and none covers the flight, crate or Malaysian export side. To size the whole move, our pet relocation cost breakdown puts the corridor together end to end.
Auckland or Christchurch: choose by flight, not by map
A cat or dog arriving by air may only land at Auckland or Christchurch. Because the facility must match the arrival airport, the routing out of Kuala Lumpur usually decides the kennel — not its distance from your new home.
Owners moving to Wellington or Dunedin often assume they should pick the southern facility. The real question is which airport the cargo routing out of KLIA serves on your dates, in a season the airline carries live animals.
Check that constraint before calling any kennel. Our guide to New Zealand’s pet arrival airports covers how the two ports differ and what that means for onward travel.
One more sequencing point: MPI requires arrival notification at least five working days before landing. That notice is tied to the flight, which is tied to the booking. Change the flight late and three things move at once.
Booking under the 2021 or the 2026 import health standard
New Zealand is mid-transition. The Cats and Dogs 2026 Import Health Standard came into force on 1 July 2026 with a nine-month transition during which the 2021 requirements are still accepted. From 1 April 2027, every cat and dog must meet the 2026 standard.
The ten-day minimum and the requirement to book an MPI quarantine facility are identical under both standards. Only the paperwork around them changes.
- The identity check moves earlier. Under the 2026 standard an official veterinarian must scan and verify the microchip well before shipment, and the exporting authority reports that check to MPI directly.
- Pets travelling from 1 April 2027 must be on the 2026 track. MPI’s cut-off for starting pre-export identity checks was 1 October 2026, which affects anyone planning a 2027 move.
- MPI does not choose the standard for you. Its guidance directs importers to ask the authority in the exporting country or their pet transport company.
For a Malaysian departure, confirm with MPI’s guidance on bringing cats and dogs to NZ and with DVS before locking dates. Anyone who has run the thirty-day Singapore quarantine that applies to Malaysian pets knows the pattern: stable in outline, fluid in detail.
Conclusion: book the kennel, then build the file
Three facilities, two airports, ten days minimum, and a booking form the permit cannot proceed without. Book an MPI quarantine facility early, keep buffer nights, and treat the confirmed slot as the fixed point of the move.
New Zealand is not a difficult corridor once the order is right. It punishes one mistake: leaving the kennel until last. A slot that is not there in March cannot be created by a well-prepared file.
Check the breeds New Zealand will not admit before spending anything, then start calling operators. Still choosing a destination? The full route list from Malaysia compares the requirements.
Verify every figure with MPI and the facility before committing money. The standards are mid-transition, and the booking is the one step where a wrong date costs time and a deposit.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I book an MPI quarantine facility from Malaysia?
Contact one of the three approved operators using MPI’s published register, give them the species, breed and target arrival date, and ask for the quarantine booking form. MPI approves the facilities but does not take bookings on your behalf.
2. Do I book quarantine before or after the import permit?
Before. A signed quarantine booking form is a required attachment on the import permit application for category 2 and category 3 countries, and Malaysia is category 3. Applying without it leaves the file incomplete.
3. How long is quarantine in New Zealand?
Ten days minimum. MPI inspects your pet within 72 hours of arrival, and the release inspection happens only in normal business hours, so the stay can run past day ten even when nothing goes wrong.
4. How many quarantine facilities does New Zealand have?
Three, per MPI’s register reviewed 15 April 2025: two serving Auckland, one serving Christchurch. That is the national capacity for imported cats and dogs, which is why peak-season slots need booking months ahead.
5. How much does New Zealand pet quarantine cost?
MPI does not publish facility rates — it directs importers to ask each operator. MPI’s own charges are published, including NZ$374.05 including GST for the first pet’s border inspection, per the fees page reviewed 7 August 2026.
6. Can my pet skip quarantine if it comes from Malaysia?
No. Only compliant cats and dogs from Australia are cleared on arrival without quarantine, along with compliant assistance dogs. Every other pet, Malaysia included, completes the ten-day minimum at an approved facility.
Need a New Zealand quarantine slot held?
Tell us the breed, the airport you can route through and the month you need to land. We contact the facilities, hold the booking, and build the permit file around the confirmed date.
